SCCC one of four NJ colleges to receive $40K grant for community journalism program

Kyle Morel, New Jersey Herald
·2 min read

Sussex County Community College was awarded $40,000 this week for a journalism certificate program designed to make local colleges valuable news sources for their communities.

The funding is the result of a partnership between the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and the Journalism + Design program at the New School, Newton-based SCCC announced. The goal of the project is "to establish and promote community colleges as trusted hubs for news and information," according to a news release.

SCCC is one of four New Jersey county schools to receive the award, along with Atlantic Cape Community College, Mercer County Community College and Middlesex College.

The Sussex County Community College campus in Newton Tuesday, March 26, 2019.
The Sussex County Community College campus in Newton Tuesday, March 26, 2019.

"Each of these colleges bring rich expertise and ideas for growing community journalism programs that will help catalyze greater participation in local news production and distribution," said Cole Goins, managing director of the Journalism + Design lab. "We're eager to learn from and build with the program teams at each institution to nurture thriving news and information networks in their communities."

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Program to launch in Spring 2024

The certificate programs will be developed through training from the humanities council and Journalism + Design. Each college will coordinate partnerships with local media sources and community organizations to help participants get involved in news production.

Starting in July, officials from the four colleges will take part in workshops to learn how to create certificate programs that "incorporate local voices and community needs," according to the release. The schools' inaugural programs will launch in the Spring 2024 semester.

For more information ...

The project is funded by a grant from the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, an independent nonprofit that supports local journalism and media startups. For more information about the community college programs, visit www.njhumanities.org/programs/community-journalism.

Kyle Morel is a local reporter covering Morris and Sussex counties.

Email: kmorel@njherald.com; Twitter: @KMorelNJH

This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Sussex County Community College gets grant for community journalism